This week, world leaders, negotiators and researchers are gathered in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the United Nations climate conference, seeking to turn years of climate commitments into action countries can finance and implement. Among them is Dr. John Bosco Isunju, a climate and health researcher at Makerere University School of Public Health, named among TIME’s 100 most influential climate leaders in 2024.

Dr. Isunju led the School’s technical support to the Ministry of Health for Uganda’s 2023 Climate Change Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment (VAA) and the subsequent development of the Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) 2025–2030. The assessment covered 716 health facilities across 43 districts, documenting vulnerabilities that helped shape the country’s priorities for protecting healthcare from climate hazards.

That experience speaks directly to the task before the 9–20 November summit. With “Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems” among the COP31 Presidency’s Action Agenda priorities, the conference is seeking practical solutions and financing to keep services functioning through climate shocks. Adaptation, the practical changes needed to cope with a changing climate, must ultimately reach the facilities where people seek care.

Protecting facilities from floods and drought also safeguards the public investment behind them, giving Uganda’s adaptation effort an economic significance alongside its importance to patients. In a 27 October 2026 statement ahead of COP31, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell placed climate action within that wider calculation of public benefit.

“More governments are taking climate action right across their economies, to bank the vast benefits of clean energy and climate resilience,” he said. “Almost every major economy, and many medium-sized and smaller economies, now see climate action as a central driver of economic growth, jobs, and affordable and secure energy.”

On 21 October, nearly three weeks before the Antalya talks, the H-NAP was before Ugandan parliamentarians in Kampala. Convened by the Ministry of Health and Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change Uganda, with support from Regenerate Africa and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the engagement examined the plan and Parliament’s role in securing funding, scrutinising implementation and ensuring accountability.

Presenting the VAA, Dr. Isunju explained that the team examined the hazards facing each area, the extent of exposure and the weaknesses that made services vulnerable. They also considered the communities the facilities served. A flood could turn an already difficult journey to treatment into one that patients and staff could no longer make, as seen in many parts of Uganda, including Kasese.

“Either health workers will not work, or communities will not be able to access care, or outreaches will not be possible because roads are cut off,” he told legislators.

Uganda’s H-NAP grew out of commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to assess health vulnerabilities and develop an adaptation response. The Ministry of Health commissioned the School to undertake the VAA in 2023, with Rockefeller Foundation funding supporting both the assessment and the plan’s development. Developed through stakeholder consultation, with WHO technical support and contributions from other partners, the plan was launched on 22 August 2024.

What the assessment found

The VAA found that drought and floods were disrupting the conditions needed to deliver care. Nearly half of the assessed facilities reported drought exposure, while about two in five reported floods. Among the 284 facilities reporting flood exposure, 141 (about half) said health professionals had been unable to arrive at or leave their workplaces, and 198 (about seven in ten) reported shortages of safe water. Because districts were selected for their history of hazards, these findings describe the assessed facilities and cannot be treated as national estimates.

The H-NAP responds across ten components of the health system, including leadership, workforce training, risk monitoring and sustainable financing. Its proposed actions include revising infrastructure standards and using weather and disease information to warn of health risks earlier. Protecting care requires investment in buildings alongside the people and systems that make them function.

“A significant proportion of healthcare facilities lack water management and safety plans to address contamination risks,” the H-NAP states. “They lack water safety plans and contingency plans for monitoring and reducing contaminants as well as on-site water purification equipment.” Such gaps can leave facilities unable to maintain hygiene, clean equipment and provide treatment safely when water supplies fail or become contaminated.

The H-NAP already includes a budget, giving implementation a basis for resource mobilisation. The UN climate secretariat’s 2026 report on national adaptation plans across sectors identifies the difficulty of turning priorities into fundable projects. It recommends costing specific interventions and securing delivery partners, steps that can help advance Uganda’s health adaptation priorities.

At household level, climate pressures on livelihoods can leave families less able to get care or keep children in school, as community consultations showed.

“Their problems are interconnected. If climate, for example, affects their livelihoods, it directly impacts their health, because that means when they fall sick they can’t get care, and they can’t take their children to school, so things are all interconnected,” Dr. Isunju said.

The Ministry’s Focal Point for Climate Change and Health, Dr. Didacus Namanya, told MPs that resilience, the ability to withstand disruption and keep providing care, must inform how services are built and managed.

“So, our vision in the H-NAP is to have a responsive, adaptive, and resilient health system. Adaptive, we are talking about adaptation. These impacts will not stop; they will continue coming, but we must develop our adaptive capacity. The way we build our health facilities, the way we tackle the disease burden, we must be highly adaptive,” he said.

Dr. Namanya called for district-specific assessments, noting the different conditions in Nakasongola and Bududa, and described an ongoing review of infrastructure design standards. Dr. Isunju reported that guidelines for coordinating climate and health action across institutions were undergoing approval.

A partnership announced in October 2025 by the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Development Research Centre is helping the School and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, working with the Ministry of Health, build an investment case for H-NAP implementation. A separate Ministry of Health and Global Green Growth Institute initiative, begun in June 2026, is advancing climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene standards, investment plans for health facilities and the government’s capacity to deliver improvements.

Questions for Antalya

Legislators sought evidence of what implementation had delivered. Terego East MP Hon. Wilfred Babanga Erima asked how much of the plan had been implemented, how many facilities had been audited and refitted for climate resilience, and how funding was divided between domestic and donor sources. Hon. Shafiga Wanyenya, Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Climate Change, proposed joint follow-up with the health committee and regular progress reviews.

“Our role is to ask the difficult questions and also identify implementation gaps, to advocate for the vulnerable communities and ensure that the national commitments translate into tangible improvements in the lives of our people,” Hon. Wanyenya said.

Those questions belong in Antalya too. The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2026 identifies gaps in global data for assessing whether health systems are becoming more resilient, underlining the importance of tracking what adaptation efforts deliver for health.

The COP31 health programme links implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan with a financing framework intended to help turn health priorities into investable projects. Launched on 9 November, the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience provides a platform for countries to share practical experience. The COP28 adaptation framework sets targets for climate-resilient health services by 2030 and progressively beyond, alongside national adaptation planning by 2030 and multi-hazard early-warning systems by 2027.

The H-NAP gives Uganda a practical agenda for that next stage. It calls for climate and health priorities to enter government budgets and for proposals capable of attracting finance. It also identifies academic partnerships as a route to research and capacity-building funds. Annual reviews would then assess progress and guide subsequent work.

As negotiations continue in Antalya, the next test is whether decisions there, and action at home, help keep care available, on the road to a health facility, and at the water point on which safe treatment depends.

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On 10^th November 2026, the Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships (DRIP) held a webinar to equip graduate students, Coordinators of Graduate Studies and College Librarians with knowledge and practical skills to leverage the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) to strengthen their research identity, publication tracking and research visibility.

The training held under the theme “Making Your Research Visible: Leveraging ORCID for Research Identity, Publication Tracking and Graduate Student Compliance,” highlighted the importance of ORCID in providing researchers with a unique digital identifier that connects them to their scholarly publications, research outputs and institutional affiliations.

The webinar with over 200 participants in attendance, was officially opened by Prof. Sarah Ssali – the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) represented by Prof. Robert Wamala – Director, DRIP.

Prof. Sarah Ssali in her introductory remarks emphasised the importance of establishing a strong research identity, enhancing the visibility of scholarly outputs and ensuring proper attribution of researchers’ contributions. Prof. Ssali reminded graduate students that establishing an ORCID identity early in their academic journey is an important investment in their research careers. It provides a foundation for building scholarly profiles, tracking publications, enhancing visibility and demonstrating research contributions. It also supports the University’s efforts to strengthen publication tracking and meet graduate training requirements.

“ORCID provides researchers with a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes them from other researchers and connects them to their publications, research outputs, institutional affiliations. It helps address challenges which are associated with author identification, publication attribution, and the visibility of scholarly contributions”, Prof. Ssali remarked.

On behalf of the university library, Prof. Ruth Nalumaga the University Librarian said that the library is planning to archive primary data emanating from research.

“We would like primary information to also be archived in the library. Sometimes people may reuse it. Most of our graduate students are self-sponsored, the most expensive parts of graduate studies is the research. If we have these data sets that somebody can reuse, it may take off some weight on some students who are unable to fund their research’ Prof. Nalumaga said.

Prof. Julius Kikooma – Director, Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) delivering his welcome remarks, noted that the training was part of the university’s efforts towards strengthening the management and administration of graduate training. He said that it the university’s effort to have a framework where graduate students are supported and are given the right set of skills and tools to be ready to be part of a fruitful journey and experience.

Prof. Kikooma said that university had created an environment where graduate students are able to achieve the key outputs of their efforts in their studies and that when they achieve those outputs, they are not left on the shelf like it has been.

“It has been long that we have been engaged in research that is for the sake of just ticking a box. Ticking a box meaning you just get a map from the dissertation and then that is the end of your relationship with what you have done in research”, Prof. Kikooma said.

On behalf of the Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU), Mr. Brian Masiga appreciated DRIP for organising the engagement and the continued partnership in strengthening the research and scholarly ecosystem.

Mr. Brian Masiga underscored the importance of ORCID, which is the unique digital identifier for researchers.

“Behind this identifier is a much bigger conversation about how our research is recognized, attributed, discovered, connected to the institutions where it is undertaken. So for the graduate students joining us today, I would like to emphasize one important point. Your research journey does not begin with you when you publish your first journal article, and it certainly does not end when you graduate” Mr. Masiga remarked.

Mr. Fredrick Tamale from RENU discussed the topic: ‘Understanding ORCID and its importance in research – ORCID concept, purpose, benefits and global adoption.

Mr. Tamale emphasised the importance of graduate students establishing their ORCID identities early in their academic journeys and maintaining accurate, updated profiles to support research visibility, publication attribution and tracking. He warned on the dangers of having multiple ORCID by researchers/students which would impact negatively on their profiles.

“Researches published under different forms of their names and variations in some publications may not be connected to the right researcher. The institutional affiliation may be absent or inconsistent. And compiling A reliable publication list becomes a manual exercise” Mr. Tamale said.

Mr. Tamale said that some institutions require staff to produce their research outputs from time to time. At institutional level, there could be incomplete records of what the affiliated staff researchers were engaged in and ORCID was coming to solve this challenge.

Mr. Juma Katongole, Deputy Chief, Directorate for ICT Support (DICTS), highlighted Makerere University’s progress in institutionalising ORCID through its integration with key university information management systems. In his presentation on “Institutional Adoption and Integration of ORCID,” he explored opportunities for embedding ORCID into University systems, researcher records and institutional research management. He confirmed that the ORCID field has already been integrated into the Research Information Management System (RIMS) and the Electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS), among other University systems.

Mr. Andrew Mwesigwa delivered a presentation on “Leveraging ORCID for Research Identity and Publication Tracking,” highlighting the importance of ORCID in strengthening researchers’ professional identities and visibility within the global research community. The presentation focused on how researchers can use their ORCID IDs to establish a unique scholarly identity, connect their publications and other research outputs to their profiles, improve accurate attribution of scholarly contributions and make their research more discoverable

The initiative forms part of Makerere University’s broader efforts to strengthen research visibility, researcher identification to improve institutional research information management and enhance the global recognition of its researchers and scholarly contributions.

DRIP appreciates the collaboration of RENU, University Library, Directorate of Graduate Training, Directorate of ICT Support,and Directorate of Quality Assurance, in advancing ORCID adoption at the University.

Participants were guided on creating and managing ORCID profiles, linking publications, enhancing research visibility and understanding how ORCID supports Makerere University’s graduate training and publication tracking requirements as the university continues to strengthen and promote the visibility of its scholarly outputs locally and globally.

Seven years after a RUFORUM delegation met Zambia’s then Acting President, H.E. Inonge Wina, to seek the country’s support for hosting the 2026 Annual General Meeting, the Southern African nation is preparing to welcome over 1,000 delegates to discuss how African universities can translate higher agricultural education, research and innovation into tangible development outcomes.

In September 2019, a delegation from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) paid a courtesy visit to Zambia’s then Vice President and Acting President, H.E. Inonge Wina, in Lusaka. The meeting, held on 25 September on the sidelines of Zambia Higher Education Week, provided an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between African universities and the Zambian Government in advancing agricultural higher education and research. During the engagement, a request was made for Zambia to host RUFORUM’s 22^nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2026, an undertaking that received the Vice President’s support.

Seven years later, Zambia is preparing to fulfil that commitment as it hosts the 22^nd RUFORUM AGM from 30 November to 4 December 2026 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in the capital, Lusaka.

The meeting, which is expected to attract over 1,000 participants from across Africa and beyond, will bring together Vice Chancellors, Principals, Deans, researchers, policymakers, government representatives, development partners, private sector actors, students, innovators and farmer organisations to deliberate on the role of higher education in Africa’s agricultural transformation.

Held under the theme, “Translating higher agricultural education, innovation, and research into action for Africa’s agricultural transformation and development,” the AGM will provide a platform for African universities to reflect on their contribution to the continent’s development and explore practical approaches to strengthening education, research, innovation and partnerships. The meeting will be hosted by the Government of Zambia in partnership with four RUFORUM member universities, the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University, Mulungushi University and Kapasa Makasa University.

Strengthening the role of African universities in agricultural transformation

Established in 2004 by ten African university Vice Chancellors, RUFORUM has grown into a continental network of 175 universities across 40 African countries, working to strengthen the capacity of African universities to respond to the continent’s agricultural and development challenges. Hosted by the Government of Uganda at Makerere University, RUFORUM envisions vibrant, transformative universities that catalyse sustainable and inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa. At the centre of its mandate is the recognition that African universities must go beyond teaching and awarding academic qualifications to become drivers of scientific discovery, innovation, entrepreneurship and community transformation.

Through postgraduate training, collaborative research, institutional strengthening and partnerships with governments, industry and farming communities, RUFORUM seeks to develop the human capital and scientific solutions required to transform Africa’s agriculture and agri-food systems.

Over the years, the network has championed efforts to make higher agricultural education more responsive to Africa’s development needs by strengthening graduate training, promoting research that addresses practical agricultural challenges, and creating opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully in agricultural innovation and enterprise development.

The 22^nd AGM will build on these efforts, with particular attention to how universities can translate the knowledge and technologies they generate into solutions that improve agricultural productivity, strengthen food security, create employment and enhance livelihoods.

Academic knowledge to practical solutions

The 2026 AGM comes at a time when African universities are increasingly being challenged to demonstrate the relevance of their training and research to the communities and economies they serve. While universities continue to produce graduates and generate scientific knowledge, questions remain about how effectively these investments are contributing to employment creation, agricultural productivity, industrialisation and sustainable development.

The Lusaka meeting will therefore examine how higher education institutions can better align their teaching, research and innovation systems with labour market demands and the changing needs of Africa’s agricultural sector. Discussions will focus on strengthening Africa’s human capital, building resilient and productive economies, harnessing university partnerships for development, and expanding opportunities for capacity sharing to train the next generation.

Particular attention will be given to transformative teaching and learning approaches that equip graduates with practical skills, entrepreneurial competencies and the capacity to develop solutions to real-world challenges. The meeting will also explore the growing role of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and other emerging innovations in reshaping higher education, agricultural research and the future of work. These discussions reflect RUFORUM’s continued commitment to positioning African universities as institutions that not only generate knowledge but also work alongside farmers, communities, governments and industry to ensure that research translates into measurable development outcomes.

Building Africa’s human capital

Human capital development remains one of RUFORUM’s central areas of investment. Since its establishment, the network has supported the training of thousands of African students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, contributing to the development of a new generation of researchers, scientists, academics and agricultural professionals.

Through its collaborative university network, RUFORUM has also promoted opportunities for African students to undertake advanced training within the continent, strengthening institutional capacity and fostering cooperation among African universities. One of its flagship initiatives, the Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development programme (TAGDev), supported by the Mastercard Foundation, seeks to strengthen universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions to deliver inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient agricultural transformation. The programme promotes experiential learning, entrepreneurship, youth employment and stronger engagement between universities, communities and the private sector. Such initiatives demonstrate RUFORUM’s emphasis on ensuring that investments in higher education translate into opportunities for young Africans, particularly women and other groups whose participation in agricultural innovation and enterprise development remains critical to the continent’s future.

As delegates gather in Lusaka, the question of how African universities can produce graduates with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to transform the continent’s economies will remain central to the discussions.

Advancing Africa’s continental development agenda

The 22^nd RUFORUM AGM also comes against the backdrop of renewed continental commitments to education, science, technology, innovation and agricultural transformation. The meeting is aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration and its implementation agenda for 2026–2035, as well as continental efforts to accelerate the transformation of education and skills development. These frameworks recognise the importance of strengthening Africa’s human capital, agricultural productivity, innovation capacity and institutional systems to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. For RUFORUM, the challenge is to ensure that African universities are adequately positioned to contribute to the implementation of these commitments.

The AGM will therefore provide an opportunity for university leaders, governments and development partners to examine how institutional reforms, investments in research, curriculum transformation and stronger partnerships can support the continent’s development priorities. It will also build on commitments made during the 21^st RUFORUM AGM held in Gaborone, Botswana, in 2025, where African universities pledged to strengthen their contribution to higher education transformation, scientific innovation and the generation of solutions for Africa’s development.

Showcasing African research and innovation

Beyond policy dialogue and institutional engagements, the AGM will provide a platform for showcasing agricultural technologies, research outputs, innovations and enterprise models developed by universities and their partners. The exhibition component will highlight practical solutions in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, food systems, agribusiness, value addition, digital agriculture and community-based innovation. It will also create opportunities for young innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and institutions to demonstrate how scientific knowledge can be translated into technologies, businesses and livelihood opportunities. Through these engagements, RUFORUM seeks to strengthen collaboration among universities, governments, private sector actors and farming communities, while encouraging the adoption and scaling of innovations that address Africa’s agricultural challenges.

Zambia takes centre stage

For Zambia, hosting the 22^nd RUFORUM AGM represents an opportunity to contribute to the continental conversation on the future of agricultural higher education and to strengthen its collaboration with African universities and development partners. The meeting also brings renewed significance to the September 2019 engagement between RUFORUM and the country’s leadership, which helped lay the foundation for Zambia’s hosting of the continental gathering. With preparations underway, Lusaka is set to become a meeting point for African university leaders, policymakers, researchers, innovators and development partners seeking to advance a shared vision of universities as engines of agricultural transformation and economic development. More importantly, the gathering will provide an opportunity to move beyond discussions about the potential of African universities and focus on the practical actions, investments and partnerships needed to realise that potential.

As RUFORUM continues to champion transformative higher agricultural education across Africa, the 22^nd AGM will reinforce a central message that the true value of university education, research and innovation lies not only in the knowledge generated, but in how that knowledge is applied to improve livelihoods, create opportunities and contribute to Africa’s development.

For more information and registration, visit the official 22^nd RUFORUM AGM website: https://agm.ruforum.org/register